Half a Hundred Thoughts on Two Thousand Years
by Penbrydd
Summary: -RND- Ukitake and Shunsui have been best friends for more years than either cares to recall, all at once. 50 themes, 1 sentence each.


_**Disclaimer: **__Bleach is the property of Kubo Tite. I just borrow his characters and play with them._**  
****Warnings:** None  
**Notes:** _I haven't had the time to write anything lately, but I can't go to work today, so here's all my creativity for the day! And, yes, while I do ship this pairing, this has more of a 'friends who might if they could be arsed' feel._

* * *

#1 Motion: It wasn't winning or losing that drew him to these sparring matches, but the smooth and graceful motion of Shunsui's body.

#2 Cool: Ukitake was thin, but always feverishly warm, and he claimed the coolness of the river on his toes was all he needed to be comfortable.

#3 Young: "If I'd only taken better care of you when we were young," Shunsui began, but Ukitake simply smiled and quietly elbowed the hot sake into Shunsui's lap.

#4 Last: Every day was just as likely as the one before to be the last day Ukitake lived, but Shunsui didn't let it bother him -- he was a warrior, too.

#5 Wrong: "You are wrong about Nanao, old friend," Ukitake said, slipping another candy into his friend's mouth, as they lay watching the sky, "She loves you very much, but doesn't know what to do with you."

#6 Gentle: Everyone was gentle with Ukitake, except Shunsui, who knew exactly how much the sick Shinigami could take.

#7 One: There was only one plum left, and Shunsui offered it to Ukitake, who drew his sword and sliced in two, with a slightly exasperated quirk of his lips.

#8 Thousand: They had known each other at least a thousand years, and Shunsui always claimed they'd have at least a thousand more.

#9 King: Ukitake had met a human king, once, and had decided it was the saddest profession he knew.

#10 Learn: Shunsui had learned to smile at the worst times, so Ukitake didn't have to, but Ukitake smiled anyway.

#11 Blur: Ukitake still finds it funny that, during a sparring match, Shunsui once elbowed him in the head so hard the world was a blur for a few hours.

#12 Wait: It is thought that Ukitake doesn't wait for things because he doesn't have the time, but Shunsui knows it's just because he's impulsive.

#13 Change: Neither of them wants to change the other, but they both want to change the world.

#14 Command: Shunsui pushes Ukitake to straighten out the 13th's chain of command, but Ukitake protests that his two Third Seats are equally competent.

#15 Hold: Sometimes when his lungs start to bleed, Ukitake gets Shunsui to hold him upside down for a little while, so the blood won't pool and clot.

#16 Need: Sometimes Shunsui can't tell if their relationship is friendship or symbiosis, since he knows he needs Ukitake to keep things in perspective, and he suspects Ukitake needs him for the worst times.

#17 Vision: Shunsui suspects Ukitake's vision is going, since he sometimes misreads things at a distance -- usually in the most hilarious possible ways.

#18 Attention: Shunsui craves attention, but Ukitake gives it freely.

#19 Soul: Ukitake has heard Kenpachi refer to him and Shunsui as "four swords, two men, one soul", and the Eleventh's captain sounded confused and slightly awed, like he might challenge them both at once, one day.

#20 Picture: Shunsui has a picture of himself and Ukitake shoved behind a bookcase, because he says that displaying it implies that the event can no longer be recreated.

#21 Fool: Unohana calls them her two fools: Ukitake for eating too much candy and swimming in the river, and Shunsui for drinking too much sake and encouraging him.

#22 Mad: Toshirou thinks that Ukitake is quite mad, and Shunsui teases him about it.

#23 Child: Ukitake enjoys the world like a child, having spent most of his time in it lying in bed.

#24 Now: "Now what?" Shunsui asked, the day Ukitake kissed him, but Ukitake just shrugged and laughed.

#25 Shadow: Shunsui has noticed the shadow that hangs over Ukitake on the day of his Vice-Captain's death.

#26 Goodbye: Neither of them ever said goodbye -- it was too final -- always just, "See you later."

#27 Hide: "Where in Sereitei did you hide my damned sake!" Shunsui howled, and Ukitake almost choked on a melon gummy, laughing.

#28 Fortune: Ukitake believed himself very fortunate to have a friend he didn't have to hide things from.

#29 Safe: Ukitake's lieutenants were always trying to keep him safe; luckily, he had Shunsui's help to sneak past them.

#30 Ghost: Shunsui liked to tell Ukitake that in the dark, he looked like a ghost.

#31 Book: As much as Ukitake enjoyed books, he didn't think he'd be borrowing another one from Shunsui, if the pages were going to be all stuck together.

#32 Eye: "Look me in the eye when you say that," Ukitake admonished his drunken best friend, in response to a sake-induced declaration of love.

#33 Never: After breakfast, Shunsui declared he was never eating tea-rice again -- especially not with pickled plums.

#34 Sing: Shunsui liked to sing when he drank outside, at night, and sometimes Ukitake joined him, but usually, he just listened to the syrupy flows of melody.

#35 Sudden: Shunsui noticed that with Ukitake, everything was sudden: a decision to fight, a bloody cough, a shift in the balance of power.

#36 Stop: Shunsui and Ukitake could have a great deal of fun, indoors, when Ukitake's lieutenants weren't around to make them stop.

#37 Time: Shunsui complained he never had time for anything, and Ukitake always insisted it was because he took too much time to decide.

#38 Wash: Ukitake's lieutenants could never figure out who was doing his laundry, never suspecting that he washed his clothes with himself in the river, while Shunsui distracted them.

#39 Torn: The day Shunsui showed up looking pitiful, with his coat torn at the edges, claiming Nanao had beaten him up, Ukitake just laughed, knowing Shunsui had let her, and wasn't really hurt.

#40 History: History was nearly meaningless to both Ukitake and Shunsui, who had lived long enough to see entire civilisations rise and fall -- it was all just a lifetime.

#41 Power: Ukitake and Shunsui were two of the most talented and powerful swordsmen in all of Sereitei, but both cared more for other things

#42 Bother: Ukitake never asked for much, saying he didn't want to be a bother, but Shunsui insisted it would bother him more if hs best friend died.

#43 God: Ukitake protested regularly that Shinigami were not really gods, or he wouldn't be so sick, and Shunsui could see his point in the vivid red spatters on his lips.

#44 Wall: Ukitake liked to sit on the side of the river, hanging his feet into the water, and Shunsui liked to tell him that one day he'd lose a leg when the wall came down.

#45 Naked: In the summer, they played in the river, together, naked and shameless -- more afraid of being caught in the water, than being seen without clothes.

#46 Drive: Some people said that Ukitake was still alive because he was driven to survive; Shunsui knew it was because he wasn't done enjoying life.

#47 Harm: As bizarre as Shunsui was, Ukitake's lieutenants knew he didn't _mean_ any harm.

#48 Precious: For all that Shunsui raved about sleep and sake, the two things that were truly precious to him were Ukitake and Nanao, and Ukitake definitely came first.

#49 Hunger: While Ukitake had never developed Shunsui's hunger for touch, he'd come to enjoy when Shunsui would sit by his bed and stroke his hair, when he wasn't well enough to stand.

#50 Believe: The one time Shunsui looked Ukitake in the eye and said he loved him, Ukitake believed it.


End file.
